Ukraine leading businessmen create coronavirus fund

The leading businessmen who met with Ukrainian
President Zelensky on Mar. 16 decided to create a fund that will provide
hospitals with the necessary supplies to combat the spread of the coronavirus,
agri-investor Andrey Stavnitser wrote on his Facebook page. “Besides money, we
will assist with people, resources, logistics and experience,” he said. “The
first priority will be artificial respirators. The situation is bad. Hospitals
are catastrophically unprepared. And tests are needed of both types – express and
PCRs. The issue is more or less resolved as the first million express tests
will arrive on Saturday. In the words of the president, they will be first be
transferred to the war front.”

Besides those mentioned in our yesterday’s news,
the businessmen at the President’s Office meeting also included EastOne Group
owner Victor Pinchuk (estimated wealth USD 1.4 bln), TAS Group owner Serhiy
Tihipko (USD 640 mln), Industrial Union of Donbas former partner Vitaliy Hayduk
(USD 410 mln), VEK Capital partner Igor Voronov (USD 95 mln), and Rozetka.ua
owner Vladislav Chechotkin (USD 230 mln). Wealth estimates were drawn from the
annual survey conducted by the focus.ua news site.

Twenty-four Ukrainians, returning recently from
abroad, have been hospitalized in Lviv with coronavirus symptoms, reported on
Mar. 18 the press service of the Lviv City Council. Lviv is Ukraine’s
seventh-largest city, located near the Polish border. On the whole, Ukrainians
infected with the coronavirus remained relatively few, as of noon, March 18.
Seven new ñonfirmed cases were reported the prior day, raising the total number
of infected patients within Ukraine’s borders to 14, according to the Center
for Public Health of Ukraine. Twelve Ukrainian citizens are currently
hospitalized abroad, with one citizen having died in Italy on Mar. 13,
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry reported.

Ukrainian citizens receiving pensions of less than UAH
5,000 per month (USD 183) will receive a UAH 1,000 bonus (USD 37), President
Zelensky announced in a televised address on Mar. 16. He did not indicate
whether this would be a one-off payment, or if a monthly bonus, for how long.
The overwhelming majority of Ukraine’s pensioners receive under UAH 5,000 a
month.

Zenon Zawada: So far, the
coronavirus situation in Ukraine is under control, more or less. This morning’s
report of two dozen possible cases in Lviv, among relatively young people, is
the biggest cause for concern since the first case of coronavirus was reported
in Ukraine on Mar. 11.

Zelensky’s proposed UAH 1,000 bonus to pensioners is
likely to be a one-off payment. Nonetheless, it will intensify pressure on the
pension fund and state budget by an additional UAH 8-9 bln, thus having
expanded the planned fiscal deficit by about 10%. We see President Zelensky
gaining little politically from what is ultimately a symbolic gesture that
won’t impress pensioners. Nor will it impress representatives of the IMF, who are
already reluctant to approve a critical loan deal for Ukraine.